7 days in Kerala - India's MOST Beautiful Region
in the last 3 weeks northern India has put us to the test We've had the most intense experiences and have seen places like nowhere else on earth But we wanted to see whether in a country that is famous for chaos we could also find some beautiful nature So we headed south to the state of Kerala arguably the most beautiful state of India And over the next week we will be exploring this region and seeing the peaceful side of India The side we've been dying to see Good morning from the beautiful state of Kerala This is the place everyone has told us to come to in India We are finally here and we are starting it off in the best way possible For the next 24 hours we are staying on our very own house boat on the Kerala backwaters Fourth one Fourth one Fourth one Are you okay yeah How many boats are we climbing from we have to close We've just got given a welcome drink This is fresh lemon Here's our captain George Captain George He will be driving us for the next few days We are just unraveling the boat and we will be off any moment now It is time to start our cruise around the Kerala backwaters I am so excited for this Should we have a look up here apparently this is our cruising platform where we can watch from the balcony How is this hey I've got a bed You've got a bed You can just fall asleep I might if I'm not careful To be honest this is just going to be such a relaxing time just taking in the views on this beautiful house boat Did I mention this is all private just for me and Amelia how long have you been the captain 16 years 16 years Wow We're in good hands Very good hands Hi Living the life You look like you've got like a cocktail and you're having having a party on this boat Yeah just me and my private boat We are passing so many of these house boats There must be so many on these waters So I think right now we're in like a big lagoon area and then we'll go through maybe some more like smaller narrow river areas It looks like no choppy waters today No choppy waters A nice relaxing cruise We will be giving you guys a little tour around our house boat but for now I'm just going to relax here because I I just can't move It's too comfy We are about to have lunch whilst we've pulled in here for the next half an hour or so We've got some rice some papadoms a vegetable curry beans cabbage fresh fish that was caught in the lakes and what was this one like I'm not sure but I think it's a little bit sweet or something The fish is still Oh it's incredible The vegetable The Kerala backwaters which we are on right now is made up of five big lakes and they're all conjoined using man-made canals and also natural rivers This whole area is actually attached to the sea but very very far away So it's mostly all fresh water I wonder if there's any crocodiles in here Like can we swim in it i don't think there is I would like a swim because it's so hot I think we've both just gone really lethargic and relaxed though There is a nice breeze right now These rice fields here are so green Everywhere else we've been in India so far has just been so brown and average Obviously right now we're in the bigger canal ways but we want to head down to some of the smaller rivers And to do that we actually need to get a smaller boat One has just pulled up next to us So I think we're going to pull over and then transfer over to that boat Hello Hello Thank you On to the next boat Say goodbye to our boat Bye boat See you later Hopefully that returns Yeah cuz that's got all our stuff on it and our bed which I'm looking forward to Oh maybe we're going down this little waterway The Kerala backwaters also has like this nickname called the Venice of the East And I can kind of see why here because there's houses all the way along and the only way to get around is by boat Hi Hi Hello Welcome to Kerala Cara Thank you Thank you Genuinely we've probably only met a few people here but everyone's been so like peaceful in the way they've just said hello Welcome Ooh coconut boat Coconut Maybe we get a coconut Three coconuts please You okay thank you This is the life isn't it this is the life Just cruising along the river Fresh coconut in hand I feel like this is the most relaxed I've felt in India This is the most relaxed I've felt ever It's very offputting We're going under a bridge We got to get right down He said duck He said duck Good luck Oh it's not too bad That's so funny So we just saw a boat full of school children So rather than having a school bus they have a school boat here That's so cute A school boat That is how they just go about their lives here Here's our boat George is waiting for us with his big smile Hello All beautiful Yeah Very beautiful Amazing So peaceful out there Thank you It is tea time And we also have ourselves some fried banana I thought that was like an Indonesian thing but clearly it's a thing in south of India too If you're interested in the house boat we're staying on I'll leave a link in the description We booked it on Get Your Guide and so far it's been very good hasn't it highly recommend Looks like they've put this temporary like boat floating device to get that truck across And now it looks like they're unraveling it over there and they're going to hopefully let us through This does look like a very small gap but I know George will have it under control He's the best driver in all of Kerala It looks very narrow I'm not 100% sure but maybe we're going to be watching the sunset here Maybe this is actually where we're going to be camping tonight Well I say camping Obviously we're going to be sleeping on this house boat Is this Do we sleep here Oh nice Now it's time to give you a tour around our house boat And it's not this one It's actually this one Right Amelia is going to jump back on and take you around You have to walk the plank to get back on Yeah Make sure you don't fall in You don't want to do that And then through here this is where our Captain George sits We've got like a pirate ship wheel thing This boat can only fit two people but there is so much seating We've tried to try as many chairs as we can but we really don't need this many but it's very nice We got these ones And then over here is our dining table where we had our lunch And there's a pineapple that I've been eyeing up for later because fruit is so good here And if you follow me this way down the corridor we have our bedroom And down at the end there is kind of like their quarters where they have the kitchen and stuff And through here is our bedroom And it's so much cooler in here because we actually have AC even though we're floating We only have it on in the evening and when they plug up to like the hookup that's on the land at the moment but it's so nice because it is so hot at this time of year And obviously this is the first time I've laid on this bed and you kind of sink into it It feels like memory foam Is it not hard no Oh last night we slept on a train and that was rock hard So this is lovely A little extra seat because you can never have enough I guess you could like lay that out and probably have a third bed Oh that's probably why But you can never have enough places to sit on this boat And then in here is the bathroom I don't know if it's just me but it feels slanted Probably cuz we're on the water Yeah maybe there's more things on the right of the boat than the left I think so Um which is why this door keeps falling But we actually have a proper shower a sink and a toilet with a bum gun and toilet paper What more could you need when we booked this we generally weren't sure Wo you really do sink into this bed We really weren't sure whether we'd have like a shower Like we thought it might be a bucket or something cuz obviously we're on the boat But it is so nice to have these luxuries in the middle of Kerala backwaters Oh this room is really swaying Is it swaying i think we're just at an angle Also I kind of look blue right now because they've got blue light in the sun We're going to sway our way to sleep and we'll see you in the morning How did you sleep on the wonky bed good I slept a bit wonky So every time I don't know every time I woke up in the night I was like falling further into jail when I had to climb back up to the other side of the bed because it was really on that much of a slump We have finally cut open the pineapple and I am so happy Look at that It looks incredible Fresh pineapple She's dancing She's happy She's got what she's been eyeing up these last 24 hours So good Just as we're finishing our breakfast unfortunately it's time we have to head back to the harbor So let's enjoy this final journey along the backwaters I just saw this lady like doing the laundry but the way she was doing it was like whacking it on this rock I've never used that technique before but maybe Amelia should try it I might try that when I do my laundry next to just whack it on a rock Maybe it's a drying method or something And unfortunately I think it's time that we're going to leave our house boat but we still have lots more to do here in Kerala And here we are back on the land Thank you Lovely space Thank you so much I don't even believe this We have just checked in this ocean front little villa place for only $25 £20 per night and it is beautiful Like the sea is literally what 40 m away So this is our beautiful little room This is just the only room they have here in this place But let me show you the sea Check out this view We're literally 40 meters away and we are only spending $25 a night That just blows me away Hello Anyone home hello Welcome to my beach house It's so nice in here We've got a big bed We've got a seat And it's actually really spacious So we've been able to spread out all of our stuff There's all my stuff on the floor as usual Yeah Joel likes to spread out his clothes And we obviously have a nice bathroom It feels like everything's brand new in this place and the price is just insane I can't believe it Are you ready for the beach always always ready Always ready for a swim The sky is so blue and it just looks so nice with the sunbeds the white sand Feel relaxed But the whole thing is like where is everyone there's 1.5 billion people but there's like no one here Like look at the beach It's so empty We're going to try and get one of these sunbeds Not sure how much they are but let's see if someone comes over if we kind of perch around them Should we go for these ones yeah let's go for the ones at the end Look we've got a nice towel Oh here comes the guy How much 1 hour 200 Okay How many times uh maybe just 1 hour 200 Okay This is not bad What a life Got my book here which I haven't started because we've been so busy in India and it's been so chaotic that I haven't wanted to read my book But now maybe I can take a time to read Because we were so ill when we were in Goa we had no time for like doing exactly this But this just feels so good You're getting your little suntan aren't you yeah Getting my little tan on in India I've given up reading Giving up I think it's time we probably go in the sea Yeah Yeah I'm going in I'm getting too hot Sitting there doing nothing Ready for a swim I was ready the moment we sat on those benches to be fair I can't get over how warm the sea is here Like it is so hot Hurrying to cut my teeth I can take what I need to get by It doesn't make it easy It's time we get some food There's quite a few like beach restaurants so maybe we can get some local curry or maybe some fish Should we go All righty D is so hot Amelia's running Help me He's literally burning my feet Let's try this one Luave Cafe Probably traditional French food I assume This is a mango fish curry We weren't sure what it was going to be like but honestly it's one of the best things I've ever eaten It tastes so good And the fish is incredibly fresh It's almost like a Thai curry I'd say cuz it's quite light but the fish is just melts in your mouth It's so good Right We're going to have to get this again It's just incredible We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach and enjoying the sunset before heading somewhere completely different tomorrow drag our suitcases along the sand The people here are just so nice They like refuse to let us carry our bags I feel so bad cuz it's heavy So we are about to jump in a taxi for about quite a while and head to Manar up into the mountains of Kerala I'm so excited I don't know what's going on but we just stopped in the road and I think they're dressed up as Hindu gods maybe it looks like Wo wow so cool I don't know what it's for but it's beautiful She's smiling I got a smile at me So I don't know if that was correct but it sounded like that sword kind of thing the metal was going directly through the cheek and through the tongue But for some reason they don't feel pain Maybe someone knows more information about this than me Munar feels a lot busier than we were expecting and it's kind of hard to get around I think we're going to try and take the public bus We've got a written down instructions here from our hotel manager We have just got into the town center of Manar and I think we've just found the bus stop It's just in front of us here So we're going to take the public bus so we can avoid all these package tours which seem to be sold here in Munar We are getting the bus to Stenny and then we stop at Lockheart Nice Yeah Are they lucky i think this is our bus tenny This is our second Indian bus and this is a very local one So wish us luck through the mountain roads Oh wow Starting to see some greenery outside the town of Manar That was a very relaxing bus ride here in India I was not expecting that I was expecting him to like crash down the down the road but it was actually just a beautiful ride But unfortunately they didn't stop when we wanted them to stop I don't know if they just have to stop at specific places but we now have to walk 15 minutes back in the direction we came The thing we found here in Kerala is that it's a lot of package tour holidays and so everyone has like their individual drivers who take them to the different points especially here in Munar So it's a lot harder to do on a budget especially if you're backpacking But we're proving today that we think it is possible Just get the bus Just get the bus As soon as we got out of the town of Muna it feels so much more peaceful again Lockhart Tea Factory There's no one at the ticket counter and I need to pee Upon entering the tea factory we were invited in for a tour The facility was established in 1879 when the British began planting the crops The tour lasted around 30 minutes and cost us 300 rupees each To be honest we couldn't really hear a lot of it because she had a mic on but she was talking quite quietly and it was a big group of people We've been told that if we walk about a kilometer up the road that we can actually go into the rice terraces rice terraces tea plantations and have a little walk around So we want to hopefully have a little peaceful walk but we'll see if we can get in We didn't feel like trying the tea there because they reuse all the spoons and it just seemed a bit unhygienic So we're going to have some tea at this little place This guy's making us tea right now Thank you Thank you very much Uh that's good It's so sweet Cheers Cheers Nice cup of tea Oh wow This is incredible So green It's like a yellowy green It's beautiful What kind of amazes me is that it's so dry here at the moment Like everywhere is so dry especially up in the mountains It looks so brown but then all these tea plantations are just so flipping green I don't know how they do it They must water it So tomorrow if all goes to plan we will try and climb the mountain up there Is it that one i'm pretty sure it's that one Yeah Looks quite high up doesn't it yeah going to get a freshly cut pineapple So about 100 years ago the year ago 105 years ago 105 years ago we got speaking to this lovely man who explained Munar used to have a railway but a huge flood destroyed the rail and it was never rebuilt No chili Thank you Thank you so much Look at that Got some very fresh pineapple This looks amazing to me And they actually grow it around here as well Yeah it's actually freshly grown Thank you very much It's so good The green of the coconut matches like the beautiful greens behind Feels good supporting the local If you ever want like a little coconut make sure you get one because it's your way of helping the communities who don't always get all the money from tourism like the big travel companies on these big group tours Yeah we've come into this tea plantation area which you can actually walk through and it was 50 rupees each which isn't too bad There seems to be a few people around getting their photo taken but not too busy 5 minutes of walking and I'm pretty sure we've lost everyone else who's entered this tea plantation It's very peaceful around here It's lovely A lot of the tea estates here are very private and so you can't actually walk on them But I definitely recommend coming to this spot because you can actually walk around pretty much wherever you want around this area You can actually see up there there are some people working right now Apparently most of the time they do the picking at like really early in the morning because of the heat But maybe because it's March they can do it in the middle of the day because at the moment it's only like 24 25° and it's the middle of the day So not too hot A lot cooler than when we were in the Kerala backwaters and the beach yesterday I think this is our bus Well we need any bus to Manar After our walk through the tea plantations yesterday I ended up not feeling very well I've still got a stomach bug from Voninasi which was a few weeks ago But Joel is going to do a hike now without me because I just can't leave the toilet You're going to have a good time Yeah I don't think it's too far a hike I think it's maybe like an hour and a half right then let's start this adventure I'm going to try and see if I can get tuk tuk but do some negotiations and see what price we can get Otherwise I'll just take the bus cuz it's a lot cheaper I'm going to chukundi Chuker Mundi Chuker Moody Yeah The the mountain go How much uh took to 400 400 Yeah So drop off yeah Drop off Okay Let's go Okay Thank you Okay Yeah this one is fancy Perfect Thank you Here we are We have arrived at Chukamundi Now this is a less busy track and a less busy viewpoint than the famous one which everyone goes to and it's supposed to be super crowded So here we're going for the more hidden hidden path Yeah You're from England You only take card yeah Only card Only card Wow Very modern Yeah These for me Bourbon included in the fee Yeah Fe Oh okay Thank you That was quite nice 600 rupees and it does include a guide but I was like I don't need one I'm just going to chat to you guys and kind of follow the path up cuz apparently shouldn't be too difficult So hopefully we don't get lost Yeah we also got some bourbon biscuits Some water included as well Not too bad He just told me to be careful on some of the rocks cuz they're slippy Whilst we climb this mountain which takes about an hour maybe an hour and a half We'll see how fast they do it Um I want to talk to you about the difference between North India and South India because honestly it feels like I'm in a different country Looks like we've got a few clouds coming in Hopefully it doesn't rain Let's start off with the people The people in the south of India compared to the north have been so much nice so much friendlier Oh I nearly slipped So much more honest For example the tuk tuk guy he offered me 400 rupees In Jaipur for a 15-minute journey someone tried to charge a,000 rupees and we'd only go down to 600 rupees Obviously I'm still paying tourist price but still be honest guys Woo look at this You can really start to get a perspective of the tea plantations down there Something about looking down on them just makes them look even better I think it's the patterns or the greenery What a beautiful view This section is just kind of slab of rock You're going to have to go up Not a bad view really The second thing which is so different is the traffic Like up north there's so much traffic There's so it feels like there's a lot more people It feels like the billion people live up there in the north of India But even down south even when there is traffic there's not much beeping It looks as though we've got ourselves a rain cloud Does look pretty gray Oh wow there's actually cloud Look there's cloud coming off the mountain Not sure we even have a view at the top Hello England Where are you from kerala Kerala whereabouts from Anar or Kochi Kochi Kochi Oh nice Sorry Yes Hello The is the view clear yeah Almost Almost Maybe It's awesome Yeah Good Awesome Thank you Okay Have a good trip Those lovely people said it was clear at the top Maybe that will change It's not looking great though Look at this just mist coming over I'm blowing cuz we're at altitude We'll be over 2,000 mters by the time we get to the top If you are doing this it's quite easy to navigate You don't really need a guide as there's little pink ribbons and like arrows pointing you in the right direction It's so peaceful I can literally hear nothing And we're still in India The third thing I'd say which is so different from the north to the south is like how clean it is Like obviously there's no rubbish here but even in the streets Like usually like in the north people do just chuck plastic anywhere but here in the south you see it obviously but it's not as common All right This is turning into quite the adventurous walk just through all the undergrowth Someone's like machete through I think I'm just going to sit here for 2 minutes maybe three and treat myself to a bourbon biscuit That's actually really good Borborn biscuit Doesn't get better than this Going back to the north and the south the fourth thing I definitely think is different is is again more about the people but like Amelia is not getting nearly as many looks Like in the north like some of the men were just looking at her like looking her up and down and it made her feel really uncomfortable But those are the main kind of differences between the north and south that we've found I'm sure there's some others And if you do have some leave them in the comments Be interesting to see the difference what kind of difference you think as well Hello All right Is this the top top view That's top view Further That was a fake little top You know when you get to the top and you go "Oh it's another next peak." But I think this is the genuine top just up here Finally nearly made it And it's closing in It's 11:24 So that will be yeah pretty much an hour and a half with tripod shots and drone shots So I stopped quite a bit There we go The peak the last little scramble up the top and the view is nowhere to be seen of course Hey well Chukamundi we made it You made it Yeah Top top The top Yeah Yeah Relax Hello These guys asked me to film them for a video and I have no idea what was going on Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Nice to meet you Bye-bye What friendly people I have no idea what they were saying They said something about this video Maybe they guessed I was a YouTuber or something but friendly smiley happy people Little bit slippy All right this is the place for the borbon biscuit eating I can't tell you how good these are right now And I am practically back It's literally like a one minute walk back down here to the road Completed it It's now half one So it's taken about 2 and 1/2 hours So there you go with some relative stops Back to the little hut I think I'll just jump on the bus to go back cuz it will be so cheap and fast Probably faster than a tuk tuk Yeah Winner winner winner winner That was so fast grabbing a bus Literally 2-minute wait and we'll be back to Manai in no time because these buses fly down these hills don't they the following day we headed back to Kochi the main city in the state of Kerala Good morning from Kochi We are about to take a ferry onto the main fort area of Kochi to have a little look around this city I think this is like a big kind of inward lake but the best way to get to the full area is by ferry because if you take the road apparently it takes like forever to get around and you get stuck in traffic and stuff So the ferry is the best way and apparently it's super cheap It seems so calm and quiet down this road I don't know if it's just cuz it's like 8:00 in the morning or if this bit's just a bit calmer Fort Coochi this to go there to go there Okay thank you Two So that only costs six rupees each and they literally only sell the tickets literally as the boat arrived which makes no sense but that's India for you Here we go onto the ferry We've just arrived in Port Kochi and we're going to try and take a tuk tuk to the main area How much to the basilica basilica 40 rupees 40 rupees Okay that's good We just got an honest price 40 rupees to the basilica here in Fort Coochi Honest tuk tuk driver I like it It's okay Thank you We have arrived at a basilica at the cathedral and apparently it's like one of the most famous churches in all of India It's pretty big as well I forget how like Christian it is here or Catholic Like there's so many different religions in Kerala but they all seem to get on well and just like respect each other which is so nice One thing I forgot to mention is here in Kerala it's actually kind of like a communist party which kind of runs the state Um I'm not sure obviously it's not super communist but there was loads of communist flags when we were up near Muna And yeah just something I had no idea about before coming to India It definitely feels different here The streets feel super clean and it just looks European I think it has Dutch British and Portuguese influence So that is probably why But it's honestly very pretty Look at this Oh it's such a beautiful little cafe Wow Oh it's the tourist information We've just seen Santa on the streets of Kochi Didn't fancy seeing you there Didn't expect to see Santa going to the beach in the city Can someone explain this to me stick no bills I've seen it so many places and I have no idea what it means but it's like all on the walls of things It's really odd I just want to know what it means Here we go again But it's everywhere So we thought we'd come down to this beach area And this is what the beach looks like There's a nice dog but it's just covered in rubbish It is just filthy Look at that It's actually crazy It's not quite as good as the other beaches we went to in India unfortunately Go kind of beat this didn't it yeah Well even the beach in Kerala but no not here Here we go This bit of the beach is a little bit nicer You can see some sand You can see some sand Yeah Not just rubbish It's so hot here currently in Kerala It's mid-March And if you are coming around the city I would definitely recommend coming in the morning when the sun's a bit lower cuz by midday it's way too hot to walk around You'll just be sweating If I had to guess where we were right now I would not think of India Like look at this Such a big European influence here That is the end of our time here in Kerala But we have a big announcement We're actually going to be making a long form I'm talking 1 hour to two hours maybe um of our whole time our whole experience here in India Um and it's going to include things which we didn't actually film in the videos we've already posted Things like going to the Taj Mahal our overnight bus experience an overnight train experience things which we didn't share on here on these other videos If you haven't already go down and hit subscribe so you don't miss this video which I think is going to be very good I think I'm excited to make a long form a longer format video Anyway we'll see you in that video and we'll see you soon
2025-04-28 02:46
